Forks and Cedars

Rob posted a picture of the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the College below; the event took place on Dec 9, 1970. In a follow-up article written on Dec 10, 1970, it was noted that a cedar tree that had been saved from the bulldozer had been planted to commemorate the event.

In looking at the picture, I can see in the very right horizon a tiny sliver of the main lake (just under and to the left of the drooping flag on the right edge of the photo) we have on campus so the lake was on the left of the platform party.

I note this here because for forty years I have maintained that the Groundbreaking Ceremony was held quite a distance away from the lake; there is, however, no way that the photograph "works" at the site that have been advocating for four decades. So, I am determined to find the actual site or someplace near where the site -- because of the view of the lake -- would have to have been shot from.

There is a wide grassy area near the end of the lake that is a likely candidate. It is just outside of the original buildings and would have been a natural spot for the groundbreaking. The problem is where on the grassy area would the platform have stood?

In back of the platform there is an oak tree that has a fork partly up the trunk (I’ve marked this in red) so I thought I would look for an forked oak near the grassy area. Most of the oak trees near the area are either (1) too young or (2) don't have a fork. One, however, does; it is large and exactly in the place one would expect given the geography of the black and white photo.

Here is a photo of that tree with the fork marked with red as I marked the original.

This suggests, at least to me, that the area below this tree is where the platform stood. All of the details in the original photo sufficiently match this site to make it very likely that here is where the Groundbreaking Ceremony took place. Oh, yes. This site is about 50 feet from the corner of one of the original buildings.

But what about the tree planted at the same time. Here is the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin article describing it.

Dr. Richard E. Bjork, college president, turned over the first spadeful of soil. He then broke tradition by following the groundbreaking by taking part in a tree-planting.

He said the young cedar was ‘snatched from the jaws of a ground-clearing bulldozer’ and symbolized the institution’s concern with ecology and the environment.

So, 40 years later, where is this cedar snatched from the jaws of a bulldozer?

The exact site is, today, unknown though I have a strong guess. First is would not have been far from the Groundbreaking Ceremony site – no one is going to walk far on a December day to watch a tree be planted. Exactly opposite from where the platform probably was is a single cedar on a grassy plot. It is a dozen feet from a nearby stand of oaks and pines. I’m convinced this is the same tree planted after the Groundbreaking Ceremony. Here’s a picture:

I think, then, that we can fairly safely claim that we know about where the Groundbreaking Ceremony was held and where the cedar they planted is. I sure hope the College permanently marks both so that 40 years from now someone isn’t going to have to repeat my work. We move forward in small steps.